


What Lovers Do

by chronicAngel



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Children, F/M, Marriage, POV Third Person, Parenthood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-25
Updated: 2018-08-25
Packaged: 2019-07-02 08:13:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15792576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chronicAngel/pseuds/chronicAngel
Summary: Somehow, it hadn't occurred to Marinette when she had accepted the role of Ladybug at 13 that it would be a lifelong career.





	What Lovers Do

Somehow, it hadn't occurred to Marinette when she had accepted the role of Ladybug at 13 that it would be a lifelong career.

Her life at 30 does not look exactly like she had fantasized it would when she was 13, as her husband and best friend like to tease her. The core details are still there-- point number one, she is a fashion designer and she still works at her parents' bakery on weekends when she has the time; point number two, she has met Gabriel Agreste and in fact still sees him with some frequency, largely because; point number three, she is married to Adrien Agreste. A lot of the small ones she had planned on aren't there, though. There are other things that she didn't plan that are.

They only have two children, Louis and Emma, and though they are not too old to have more they've already decided against the notion. They do not have a dog or a hamster, though they do, ironically, have the black cat she had shaken her head at as a teenager. (His name is Francœur and he demands her constant attention, which is a lot like another cat that she could name.)

Le Papillon is still at large, not for a lack of trying on their part. There's a whole cast of villains now, actually, which matches their expanded team of heroes. She supposes as much was inevitable as both sides aged. After all, skipping school is much easier than not dropping your own child off at school, and is trivial when compared to skipping a breastfeeding or first steps.

She and Adrien are not supposed to be going out tonight at all. It's a school night, which means fighting Louis to take a bath and triple-checking that he's done his homework, and things have been quiet for the last few days. She does not know why she expected the trend to continue. Alya calls Adrien at ten, an hour after they've put their son to bed and an hour after Emma was supposed to be going to bed, but Marinette is a firm believer in the "terrible twos" because their daughter has been squirming and fighting sleep and throwing sippy cups across the room for an hour.

She answers his phone because her husband is pacing the room with Emma's head resting against his shoulder and he has somehow, miraculously, almost gotten her to sleep. " _Allô_?" She answers, half-whispering and staring fearfully at her daughter for the way she whips her head around when anyone in the room answers the phone. She loves people, and will try to pry the cell phone right from your hands to talk to whoever you're talking to, even if you explain half a dozen times that it's work-- _especially_ if it's work.

Emma does not peek up and she lets out a small sigh of relief. "Hey girl," Alya starts, and she sounds like she's running. "How fast do you think you can get a babysitter at this hour?"

"You're our usual babysitter," Marinette points out, trying not to sound panicked. Adrien shoots her a look that's half-questioning and half- _can you quiet down, I'm trying to work my magic here_. When Alya doesn't answer immediately, she glances at the clock on the phone. "Can you wait fifteen minutes? My parents might not be in bed yet, and that's our best bet."

"Uh, I can try?" She offers, and then there's the familiar sound of some goop being fired at a rooftop and landing at the person on the other line's feet. With such a short pause it's like her best friend was expecting it, a string of notes plays from Rena Rouge's flute and then she calls, "Gotta go!" And the call drops.

Bending over to put Emma in her little bed, Adrien glances over at her and raises a brow without even asking anything aloud. "Alya," she says, clipped, and makes to leave the room. He follows her into the hallway, flicking the ceiling light off and the little night light in the wall on as he passes. "She didn't say much other than 'be here as soon as you can'. I'll text mom now."

"Aren't your parents teaching a cooking class at _Le Grand Paris_ tomorrow morning at six?" She gasps as she remembers that _yes, they do have that thing_ , and buries her face in her hands as she immediately starts stressing about who can watch the kids. It's not like they can just leave them unattended while they go to save Paris for hours and possibly get themselves injured or killed. She snaps out of her reverie as he rests his hands on her shoulders. "Calm down. I'll call Nino."

"If Alya is out tonight then Nino will be playing the _Chair Guy_. You know how he is. I don't think we'll be able to pry him away from his computer with a crowbar." Adrien rolls his eyes but nods, then taps his chin like a cartoon character while pondering their other options. She rubs at her temples and tries to fight off a panic attack. That helps no one. Right as he opens his mouth, she cuts him off, "Chloé doesn't like kids. I don't want someone like that watching Emma and Louis by herself." He closes his mouth and scowls, crossing his arms. "...Is your dad in town?" She asks after a minute, trying not to sound too hopeful.

"Yeah. Why?" He fires back immediately, as though he doesn't even understand how the question could be related to the conversation they're having. After a minute, his eyes widen and he blurts, "I thought you wanted someone who _likes_ kids watching them."

She frowns and packs this away for later. "We don't exactly have many options, do we?" His eyes drift off to the side and she furrows her brows, resting a hand on his cheek and tilting his head to look at her. "He's their grandfather. He has to babysit eventually."

"Who says?"

" _I_ says," she says firmly, and he snaps his mouth shut. She sighs and leans up to press a kiss to his mouth, trying to calm him down before it becomes a rare argument. He seems surprised by the gesture, but kisses her back after a moment, his hands resting naturally on her hips. He's grown more into his Chat Noir persona than the teenage Adrien Agreste she crushed on when she was younger, but she thinks that it's the mix of the two that she really fell in love with. "Call him?" She asks as gently as she can when she pulls away. He sighs and nods.

She texts Alya while he's on the phone in the kitchen, typing and deleting what amounts to a full two paragraphs before settling on a simple "leaving soon."

When he comes back he does not look any happier about the situation. "He says he can be here in 30. 20 if Nathalie can email him the finalized details on his trip to Italy in June," he says, stepping back into the room. She nods in relief. "I told him the spare key would be in the mail box, and that the kids are in bed so it should be an easy night unless Emma gets fussy, in which case he should text us and pray." She snorts, he grins. "You ready?"

She smiles at him, tempted to kiss him again. She's sure he would not argue.

Instead, she announces, as quietly as she can so she doesn't wake up the sleeping toddler in the other room, "Tikki, spots on!"

**Author's Note:**

> I almost wrote them still not knowing each others' identities after seventeen years and being married but decided against that. I just want you all to imagine the fic this could have been. I'll also be the first to admit that I actually do watch the show in English, but I think _Le Papillon_ is a better name for a villain than Hawk Moth, which just feels very kids cartoon-y.
> 
> I'm gonna get back to Concresce soon, I swear.


End file.
